


Bowled Over

by MercurySkies



Category: Buzzfeed Unsolved (Web Series)
Genre: Crushes, Day 1, Fluff, Getting Together, M/M, Mutual Pining, Romance, Shyan Week 2k19, Shyan Writing Events, The Bowl Cut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-28
Updated: 2019-01-28
Packaged: 2019-10-16 06:09:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17544200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MercurySkies/pseuds/MercurySkies
Summary: “You look like Lloyd Christmas on crack.”Written for day 1 of Shyan Week 2019, getting together!





	Bowled Over

**Author's Note:**

> Written for day 1 of Shyan Week and predictably I went for the prompt getting together because it seems to be all I'm capable of writing. If you spotted the pun it’s exactly what you think it is.

It's fine. Everything is fine. Ryan has maybe a little bit of a crush. Not an infatuation, no longing or pining, just a tiny crush. It’s not even a crush really, more of an observation. He's observed him, noticed him, looked at him at least. He's there, a human and Ryan is also a human, with eyes, if a bit short sighted but he can see him, with his eyes.

It's just a little crush. Shane is his best friend and he spends a lot of time with him, enough time to notice the little things, to let affection and fondness germinate and sprout from his chest like the first blooms of spring. It's a crush because it has Ryan thinking about bad poetry when Shane smiles, crooked and boyish and with his eyes squishing into crescent moons. It's a crush because it has him crooning old love songs at the sound of his voice, soft and with an almost melodic cadence, a laugh breathy and staccato, surprised out of him every time. It's a crush because Ryan has caught wind of 'The Bowl Cut’ and he knows it's soon to fade.

If there's one notion that Ryan stands by it’s that you know you only have a crush when the object of your affections gets a bad haircut and you just don't see the charm anymore, the magic fading as their do becomes a don't. Shane's $100 bowl cut is the talk of the office and he feels a sort of morose relief at the knowledge he'll soon be free of his most inconvenient crush. Over the months and maybe even years he's harboured his crush he's grown accustomed to its warmth. He'll miss the butterflies that hammer at his rib cage when Shane is near, especially when they're on location and the flutter of nervousness is a sweet reprieve from blind terror. He'll miss looking at him and feeling that bright flash of want, the low simmer that settles within when Shane's voice is low, when his eyes are dark, liquor on his tongue and his hands on Ryan's waist, the small of his back.

Ryan stares wistfully at his Google calendar for so long he doesn't even notice as the office begins to fill up around him, bustling with that TGIF feeling as his colleagues at least look like they're getting to work. All 69 miles of Shane Madej slides into the chair next to him with a bright smile, coffee in hand and a maroon beanie jammed onto his hot air balloon of a head. “Mornin’ little guy!” He sing songs over the lid of his coffee, tipping it toward Ryan in a jaunty salute. Ryan doesn't fight his smile. He laughs and there Shane goes, smiling with that stupid mouth and with his stupid warm brown eyes sparkling with mischief, like some woodland nymph set on leading Ryan, the weary traveller, astray. Jokes on him because Ryan's already lost.

“Hey, I heard you got a new look up top.” He smirks “Why don't you show it off?”

“Eh, no point,” Shane replies, nonplussed “you wouldn't be able to see it from down there anyway.”

“C'mon dude, the height jokes are low hanging fruit at this point.”

“They aren’t low hanging if they’re the only jokes you're tall enough to reach.”

“Stop deflecting cause you sold yourself out for $100.”

“I didn't sell myself out it's only a bad haircut. I cut my own hair all the way through college with no negative effects.”

“Sure, because not getting laid because you look like you should be on several government lists isn't a negative effect.”

“I'll have you know I was going to pound town plenty in college. A lot of folks love the gangly rogue aesthetic.”

“Okay number one, never say the words pound town ever again, and two, gangly rogue?”

“I had a certain roguish charm. Nowadays I'm shootin’ more for devilish dork. You gotta work your way up to loveable scamp.”

“So you measure style by using synonyms for asshole?”

“Ryan, style is not easily quantifiable. You gotta get creative.”

“What, like you and your new look?”

Shane rolls his eyes, self consciously tugging at the edge of his beanie as he spins around in his office chair to face him. His smile is so bright, so fond that Ryan can’t bear to see it any longer.

He lunges forward in his chair and rips the beanie from his head with a triumphant “Ha!”

Shane’s hair flops downward and the combination of the bowl cut and his completely dumbstruck expression has Ryan almost choking on his laughter.

“You look like Lloyd Christmas on crack.” He gasps out. Holding the beanie high above his head where he sits in his own office chair. Shane laughs, sharp and airy as if it’s startled from him and he hauls himself to his feet, looming over Ryan with a knee on his chair, struggling to reach for his hat as Ryan arches further backward.

“Ryan,” Shane laughs, breathless and giddy, “just give it back, you're causing a scene.”

Ryan is eye level with Shane’s collarbone, his chest almost flush with his own as he reaches over him. He can smell his cologne, sharp pine and something earthy, the peppery spice of the body wash he uses. Ryan is acutely aware of the knee Shane has between his thighs, can feel the brush of denim against denim as it slips closer to his groin.

“I'll cause a scene in a minute if you don't get your knee out from between my legs.” Ryan grits out with a groan, Shane’s knee brushing against his now half hard dick. Shane stands up so fast he sways, dizzy with the motion, his cheeks flushing.

“Oh right, sorry um...”

He towers above him, head bowed demurely as he avoids Ryan’s gaze whilst also trying, and failing, to avoid looking at Ryan’s cock slowly filling out his jeans.

Ryan thinks about cracking a joke, about sweeping his obvious half chub under the rug by wheeling himself under his desk. Instead he stands, brandishing Shane's beanie with a lot more confidence than he feels. “You want this back? Meet me on the Unsolved set in 5.”

 

* * *

 

Barely 3 minutes have passed when Shane barges onto set, looking worried and slightly sweaty. “Ryan look I'm sorry I-”

Before he can finish his sentence Ryan has him backed up against the desk, his hands buried in his ridiculous hair to tug him down into a bruising kiss. Shane freezes for a moment before dragging Ryan closer by the hips, palms hot and desperate as they slide beneath his shirt.

“I hate you.” Ryan pants once they part to catch their breath. Shane moves effortlessly into planting sweet kisses down Ryan's throat, his laugh rumbling against his skin.

“The greeting I just got kinda begs the contrary.”

“No I do,” Ryan says weakly “I do.”

Shane pulls back with a sigh. He breaks all contact, pushing Ryan back a little before folding his arms across his chest.

To anyone else it would seem almost nonchalant, uncaring and casual. Ryan knows better, every move he's made is defensive, to better protect himself from what's to come. “I'm getting some mixed signals here Ryan.” He says seriously. Ryan groans, running a frustrated hand through his hair.

“Sorry,” he mumbles “I don't hate you.” Shane shrugs.

“This wasn't supposed to happen.”

Shane flinches, recoiling slightly. “Okay.” His voice is carefully neutral, face impassive and the sheer blankness of him makes Ryan panic.

“No I mean okay-” he takes a deep breath “I have - _had_ \- _have_ a crush on you but you went and got that stupid fucking haircut and it was supposed to go away. Everyone knows that if your crush gets a shitty haircut it's supposed to fade and you won't be into them anymore but I still am, into you, I mean.”

Shane rubs his temples “I'm not sure I'm following your logic here Ry, if I can even call it that.” He sighs, looks up at Ryan with dark, tired eyes.

“So you have a crush on me?”

“No.” Ryan answers simply and Shane's face falls.

“I'm confused.”

“I don't have a crush on you cause if it’s a crush it was supposed to die alongside your sense of style.”

“Way to kick a guy when he's down Ry jeez” Shane huffs out a laugh but it sounds strangled, like he’s forcing it from his throat. Ryan simply rolls his eyes, steps in-between Shane's legs and tilts his head up to look at him.

“I don't have a crush on you because I still get butterflies when I look at you. I'm a little bit in love with you dude.”

A slow smile spreads across Shane's face, the kind of smile that has Ryan's breath catching in his throat. “Oh that's convenient,” Shane chirps, humming happily as Ryan's fingers slide into the hair at the nape of his neck “cause I'm a little bit in love with you too buddy.”

Ryan kisses the smile from his mouth, laughing as Shane's hands dip into the back pockets of his jeans.

“Just a heads up though,” he mutters against his lips “we aren't fucking until that monstrosity is fixed.” Shane laughs, chuckles hiccuping out of him as he checks his watch.

“Perfect! Lunchtime!” He grabs his beanie from the desk and shoves it onto his head before shuffling around Ryan and heading for the door.

“Wh- wait, Shane where are you going?” Ryan asks following him from the set and out through the office. Shane holds out a hand, grinning from ear to ear as Ryan takes it without hesitation.

“Barbershop baby!”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Let me know what you think here or over on [tumblr](https://mercury-skies.tumblr.com/)!
> 
> Edit (06/02/2019): The originally published version of this work made a joke that was in poor taste. It contained the words 'rat boy aesthetic' in reference to Shane. At the time I was not aware of the connotations of this kind of phrasing when in reference to those of Polish and Slavic descent as well as to Jewish individuals. At the time of writing the joke didn't sit right but I kept it in, now, through the education of friends I know why it felt so wrong and hence why it has been edited out. As someone who is part Polish I'm incredibly disappointed in myself for not knowing and for letting down other Poles and Jewish individuals. I can only apologise and put my mistake right with this additional note to explain the needed changes. Thank you for your understanding.


End file.
